Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Buy Photo

South Santa Rosa County residents listen to Gulf Breeze Mayor, Matt Dannheisser, as he discusses the Tiger Point Golf Club during a conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents attend a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center to discuss the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents attend a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center to discuss the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents attend a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center to discuss the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents attend a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center to discuss the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents listen to Gulf Breeze Mayor, Matt Dannheisser, as he discusses the Tiger Point Golf Club during a conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents express their concerns over the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club during a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents express their concerns over the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club during a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents express their concerns over the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club during a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents express their concerns over the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club during a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

South Santa Rosa County residents attend a standing room only conflict resolution meeting at Tiger Point Community Center to discuss the fate of the Tiger Point Golf Club Thursday afternoon.
Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Tensions ran high Thursday as a nearly three-year ordeal surrounding the Tiger Point Golf Club came to a head, with strong opinions presented from all sides who stand to be impacted by the future of the facility — particularly the 18-hole west course.

More than 200 people crowded into the Tiger Point Community Center for a historic meeting between the city of Gulf Breeze and Santa Rosa County, with about two and a half hours of often-heated discussion and input from residents bringing little in the way of a resolution for the golf club.

City and county officials are at odds over where the responsibility lies for the west course at the club, which is outside Gulf Breeze city limits but was purchased by the municipality in December 2012 to save ratepayers millions of dollars on construction of a new wastewater treatment plant for the city's South Santa Rosa Utility System.

The issue stems from commitments agreed to by city government when applying to the county for a conditional use license on the property, which would allow the expansion to be built on a portion of the course — perhaps most notably, a promise to rebuild the west course within a two- to three year time frame.

Both government entities agreed Thursday to work with each other and residents to potentially update those conditions by the end of the year, though Gulf Breeze Mayor Matt Dannheisser said the city will expect the county to take the lead to make that happen.

"We'll participate, but we're not going to lead in getting that done," Dannheisser said.

Dannheisser said if the conditional use license cannot be finalized by the end of the year, the city will have to begin making plans toward building a new plant at a Bergren Road property — which would be a higher expense to the city's utility ratepayers.

"We're here today with the feeling — you may not feel this, but to some extent, we do — that there's a gun to our head," Dannheisser said.

Though the mayor asked county officials multiple times throughout the meeting to spell out what improvements they want for the west course, saying that city council should not be making the decision, Commissioner Lane Lynchard argued otherwise.

"I think it's not the county's property," Lynchard said. "The residents are the ones who are interested in it, so maybe we should hear from them."

Residents lined up to share their ideas and frustrations, mostly directed toward city officials, though some encouraged the county to remain active in finding a resolution as well.

Jim Wiesner, who lives on the west course, asked the county commission to keep residents in mind when making any updates with the city's conditional use agreement, and to work to reopen the west course as a golf facility.

"When I had my house built 20 years ago, it was my dream to have a house on a golf course," Wiesner said. "If that's not going to happen, I would hope that we go down with as fierce a fight as we can put up."

But Dannheisser stressed that the city committed to restoring the west course based on bad information, under the idea that it could be funded through profits from the golf club and utility reserve funds.

The cost to bring the west course back to playable condition was initially expected to be about $1.5 million, however, a golf consultant told the city earlier this year the expense would be closer to $4 million — and it would then lose about $300,000 to $400,000 annually in operating expenses.

"Two and a half years later, we realize that that information was incorrect," Dannheisser said. "It was narrow. It was a mistake."

Former United Peninsula Association President Don Richards, who has advocated for south Santa Rosa residents for years, became emotional when referencing the agreement he helped put together with city officials in 2012, encouraging the city to restore the course and make it a "gem" for the community.

"This place means a lot to these people, and we've tried to negotiate for the better part of three years," Richards said.